I’m drawn to poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who offered a young poetry student this advice: “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.”

When I graduated from the Utrecht School of the Arts in 2013 with a degree in Audiovisual Media, specialising in documentary film, I wasn’t a patient person. Much was unsolved in my heart.

In the 90s, film found me in the late nights and early mornings at my best friend’s house, raiding his father’s VHS collection. Sitting on the cold cork floor, we were taken to other worlds - surreal imagery searing itself into my retina (hello, Eraserhead).

I was fortunate to be offered jobs early in my career that allowed me to travel. Film was still taking me to other worlds, but this time I was holding the camera. I learned technique - to look, to focus, to listen. I got a dose of humility too.

After the sudden loss of my closest friend and confidant, I withdrew from creative work completely. Without realising it, as my equipment gathered dust in the attic, I had begun the real work of a filmmaker. As life unfolded with pain and pleasure, I started to come closer to Rilke’s view.

In recent years, I’ve returned to filmmaking full-time. My first short documentary as director is in post-production, and my first feature is in the research phase. I’m based in Amsterdam and open to collaborations.